Review--Fragile Spirits by Mary Lindsey

Paul has always known he was a Protector, fated to serve a Speaker who could hear the voices of spirits lingering after death and help those souls find peace.

Vivienne ignores the voices of the dead.

Paul has always followed the Protector’s rule book, preparing diligently for the day when he’d be matched with his Speaker and fulfill his destiny.

Vivienne never does what she’s told.

So when Paul is matched with Vivienne, they both find the pairing less than satisfactory. But a kidnapping, a malevolent spirit and power stronger than both of them may just prove that they are two halves of the same whole.

In a stunning story about the beauty of fate and the power of secrets, Mary Lindsey returns to the world of Shattered Souls with a breathtaking thrill-ride of a novel.

Fragile Spirits is Mary Lindsey’s companion to her debut, Shattered Souls. While this is a new story with a new Protector and Speaker, I was happy to see some familiar faces in the story as well. In a different twist, this time we get the Protector’s point of view instead of the speaker. Paul is Vivienne’s Protector and Vivienne is unlike anyone he’s ever met, she’s sure to be a challenge for him. Vivienne is a smart and sassy girl that I pretty much adored! She has a bit of an attitude but it works for her.

The story opens up in a way that pretty much answered all my questions I had left over from Shattered Souls. Smith is still around and a problem. After the fiasco he caused to upset Alden and Lenzi, who make a few appearances in this book as well, Paul is readying himself to meet his Speaker that he’s finally been assigned, but she was not at all what he was expecting. Vivienne with her pink hair and big black combat boots could careless about the ghosts that are trying to talk to her. She has only one thing on her mind that caused her to join in with the Intercessor Council and use her gifts, and that is revenge.

A ghost killed her aunt and is what led her on her course for revenge. She’s determined to find the ghost who did it and end them permanently. But Vivienne and Paul have a rougher go of things than Alden and Lenzi did. Since this is Paul’s first gig at being a Protector, this is basically his first life cycle and there are no memories to work with. He has to convince Vivienne that they could be a great team, if only she was willing to give him a chance. The hunt for Smith becomes the next focal point for Paul and Vivienne and naturally, Lenzi and Alden are there as well as Race and Maddi and a new apprentice of Charles, Cinda.

It’s sad to already know that this series is over! There was such possibilities to be had with Race! I felt like he had a story to tell there too. But I was still pleased to see that all was wrapped up in this story, there were no little nuisances that went unaddressed. All was resolved, which was a plus! Looking back I saw that there was a three year gap between these books and I can’t imagine how everyone felt during that time of unknown! Had I not had these two books ready go in a back-to-back readathon, I would’ve been more upset over Shattered Souls.

I think this series could have done wonders had there been dual point of views between Speaker and Protector. While I still enjoyed how Mary did things, I can’t help but wonder what things might have been like had she gone that route. But then the surprising twists and shocks that occurred might not have had the same effect, so there’s that to consider.

The pacing to this one was good. Pretty spot on when you think about it. It wasn’t overly fast or action packed but it wasn’t dreadfully slow either. It was the perfect middle man, so to speak. It almost was a one-day read for me but sadly things kept getting in the way for a proper reading day.

And of course there was another well built in romance. It’s becoming a standard thing with the Speaker and Protectors to eventually get together. While it was a different situation for Lenzi and Alden, I have to say that I liked how Paul and Vivienne finally came together. Theirs was a slower build-up as in the beginning it seemed that they would never even work well together. Although, I wouldn’t have minded just a little more kissing! Lol.

Overall this one was a pretty good read. While I would’ve liked a few things enhanced more, I can definitely I say I enjoyed it a bit more than I did the previous novel. Perhaps, because I am more accustomed to the world now that I’ve had some experience in it. The only other thing I would’ve like was more ghosts. Yes there are the occasional spirits that get their help, but I guess I just wanted a few more or have moments that terrified me because of said ghosts. But in the end, Fragile Spirits was definitely a worthy read!


Overall Rating 4/5 stars

Let's Discuss: Need to Know Books!

Here's a different twist to an author I think you all should know more about. Well...I guess it can still be the same topic to that, but the book in question is a new release!

A BOOK YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT!!

 

Echoes by Alice Reeds is a new book and as you might have seen from my review, one that was sooooo freaking amazing! This is a totally twisted book that you will keep you guessing everything and suspecting everyone!

This is definitely a book for fans of LOST! It's eerie and mysterious and has some strange conspiracy theories going on. As of now, Goodreads and Alice's website don't have details if this is to be a series of any length or not. But with the way it ended, there just HAS to be SOMETHING more! If not, I will likely combust! There were so many questions that left me aching with need to know more! I don't want to discourage you from reading it, I feel like the buildup in mystery was meant to be this way. And when reflecting over it later, I realized there were still some burning questions that had yet to be answered. 

I can only hope this means Alice plans to write at least one more book! It was positively the most thrilling and shocking read I've read so far this year! And there just HAS to be a sequel! So please do yourself a favor and read this one! And leave a small review on all the bookish sites! Again, I want to say there's going to be a sequel, but I am not sure. To be safe, I think we need to let the publishers know that we realize how awesome this book is and our need for a sequel!! More than likely you'll be seeing me talking about this book again sometime soon!



 

ARC Review--Echoes by Alice Reeds

They wake on a deserted island. Fiona and Miles, high school enemies now stranded together. No memory of how they got there. No plan to follow, no hope to hold on to.

Each step forward reveals the mystery behind the forces that brought them here. And soon, the most chilling discovery: something else is on the island with them.

Something that won't let them leave alive.

I received this ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest and voluntary review. I was in no way compensated for this review.

Mind-blowingly amazing doesn’t even begin to cover Alice Reeds’ Echoes. This book is so indescribingly awesome that I am once again, left in a state of shock and disbelief! Fans of LOST will really get a kick out of this one, but like its counterpart be prepared for thousands of question and only a few answers at this time. Though that is me hoping upon hoping upon wishing every wish that there will be a sequel because omigosh I NEED MORE! 

Fiona and Miles were never friends, in fact, you might say they were enemies of sort, nemeses, if you will. Yet when they are both selected to spend three weeks in Germany at an internship with a big company named Briola, Fiona decides to make the best of it. Fiona and Miles come from two very different worlds despite being at the same highly reputable high school. Fiona is a kickboxer from an average family while Miles is your typical rich boy with a sense of entitlement.

They will have to put their differences aside though when their trip goes disastrously wrong. We open with a plane crash onto a seemingly deserted island and half their plane is missing. Sound familiar? Yet theirs was a private jet, so they were the only passengers on it besides the pilot and flight attendant. And here’s where it gets a little like LOST in that we get a flashback to when they landed in Germany, only to find out there’s something very, very wrong with their internship. Like the fact that the company, Briola, doesn’t seem to exist whatsoever!

Oh yes, this is one of those novels that will keep you guessing at every turn and reading through the pages like running water! It’s more than just a page-turner, it’s a book that will suck you in and never let you go! Even after the last page, I am still in a whirlwind of mysterious and questions…the biggest one being IS THERE A SEQUEL?! Lol.

We get a little bit of back and forth for the majority of the novel. The time they spent in Germany, trying to figure out who exactly brought them here, to their time spent on the island…where there just happens to be a bear running about! Coincidence? *wink, wink* Though sadly, it’s not a polar bear!

This book was a serious jumble of mysterious and suspense! It was so intense and twisted that I ate up the pages in the short time that I spent reading it! Seriously, if I didn’t have to work, I would’ve stayed up all day and night reading this bad boy! It was the kind of read you easily fell into and never wanted to leave.

Fiona and Miles were excellent characters too. They were more than what they appeared to be and naturally, time spent on a deserted island can lead one another to learn more about the other. They had their differences, and yet similarities. How the appeared at school, wasn’t necessarily who they were afterwards. Both were very deep, and even though this is told solely from Fiona’s point of view, I felt like we got to know Miles on a deeper level too. They eventually grow closer and begin to work together in order to survive and find a way off the island. And naturally, a bit of romance is sparked between them. Honestly, all of us likely saw this coming by just the description of the book alone! That’s what being a reader will do to you! I will say that their romance was very sweet and had a decent buildup to it as well. We saw possible moments between them in the flashbacks too.

At a certain point, we leave behind the flashbacks and it seemed to do so at a pretty critical moment. Which is why I am desperate for a sequel. Things start to fall together, in the loosest sense and we get to delve a little deeper into the mystery that brought Fiona and Miles together. But the answers aren’t all there. And it seems to have brought up even more questions in the final moments of the book. Which, again, is why I NEED a sequel!!

By saying Echoes is the perfect read for fans of LOST, you know what you’re getting into! I want to warn you of that now. There’s a lot of mystery, a lot of questions, and so few answers. But that’s what drew me to LOST to begin with. The mystery and the puzzles. I will anxiously be rocking here in my corner as I await for more information about the future of this possible series. In the meantime, I would HIGHLY recommend reading this one if you love a seriously twisted and mysterious read!


Overall Rating 5/5 stars

 
Echoes releases August 7, 2018

Book Blogger Hop

This meme is hosted by Billy at Ramblings of a Coffee Addict!

 

 

This week's question is: Do you agree or disagree with this statement: A blogger's first name should be in a prominent place on his/her blog. (submitted by Elizabeth @ Silver's Reviews) 

 

 

 

MY ANSWER: Hmm...well yes and no. I don't think it needs to be somewhere front and center and whatnot. But somewhere on the blog would be nice. Whether it's a signature or something similar, like an "about the blogger" type of thing. It just makes it a little more personable to be able to know the name behind the blog.

 

Hence why I just go with a signature!

 

 

Random Thursday

Today we'll get a little deeper into the "Pop Culture" chapter of The Little Book of Answers by Doug Lennox!

(image borrowed from Heroism Wiki)

L. Frank Braum made up the story for The Wizard of Oz one night while telling his son and other children a story. When describing the world and the characters, he was asked by a child what was the name of the place. He apparently looked over to see a set of filing cabinets, there was A-G, H-N, and O-Z. So he called it Oz!

That I find to be very intriguing!!

(image borrowed from Wikipedia)

J.M. Barrie gave the name Wendy to one of the Darling children because one of his close friends, W.E. Henley had a daughter named Margaret. He would tell her that Barrie was a "friend" of his and she came to call him a "fwend" or "fwendy-wendy". Sadly, Margaret died at age six and to honor her memory Barrie named one of the Darlings Wendy.

So sad, and so sweet!

(image borrowed from Footwear News)

Charles Perrault, famous for having written down the story Cinderella--as initially this story was told orally for years before he decided to write it down--didn't mean to make Cinderella's slippers made of glass. He mistook the word "vair", meaning ermine, for the word "verre", meaning glass. Once he realized his mistake, it was sadly too late for the story had become too popular to change. 

So instead of a fuzzy/furry slipper, she got glass? Totally weird, but I dig it!

(image borrowed from Wikipedia)

The expression "blonde bombshell" was used to describe dynamic and sexy women with blonde hair and this came from Jean Harlow who starred in the 1933 movie, Blonde Bombshell. Initially the movie was to be titled Bombshell, but they didn't want it to connect to a war movie. The nickname was at first used just for Jean, but eventually became used for all blonde dynamic women!

(image borrowed from Wikipedia)

There hasn't been a movie made in Hollywood since 1911. The town grew tired of the crowds of actors and crew and the sets and just the general chaos. They tossed out the Nestor Film Company and wrote an ordinance forbidding the building of any future studios. The studios moved to nearby town such as Santa Monica, Culver City, and Burbank, but movie magic will always have us thinking of Hollywood!

(image borrowed from Wikipedia)

Leonard da Vinci's "Mona Lisa" was originally titled "La Giaconda". It was a portrait of Lisa Gherardini, the wife of a Florentine merchant. X-rays revealed that da Vinci had Lisa pose in three different positions before settling on this one. She has no eyebrows because that was the style to shave them off at the time.

Wow. Never knew any of that!

Cover Art Reveal--Havoc by Mary Lindsey

As I was getting the necessary details for my review of Mary Lindsey's Shattered Souls, I stumbled upon the cover for the next Haven book, Havoc! 

There's no description for it yet, but I thought I'd share the cover art anyway! I love how the red still plays a nice contrasting role in the black and white scheme.

Cannot wait to see what will happen next in this world!


Havoc releases November 6, 2018

Review--Shattered Souls by Mary Lindsey

A thrilling debut story of death, love, destiny, and danger

Lenzi hears voices and has visions - gravestones, floods, a boy with steel gray eyes. Her boyfriend, Zak, can't help, and everything keeps getting louder and more intense. Then Lenzi meets Alden, the boy from her dreams, who reveals that she's a reincarnated Speaker - someone who can talk to and help lost souls - and that he has been her Protector for centuries.

Now Lenzi must choose between her life with Zak and the life she is destined to lead with Alden. But time is running out: a malevolent spirit is out to destroy Lenzi, and he will kill her if she doesn't make a decision soon.

Having read and loved Mary Lindsey’s Haven earlier this year, I decided to take a look at her backlist and found the Souls duology and thought it sounded right up my alley. Shattered Souls was quite a unique read, it dealt with past lives and reincarnation, ghosts—both good and bad, and about the talented folks who help these ghosts move on in one way or another.

Enter Lenzi, a seventeen year old girl who thinks she’s going crazy like her father did. She’s been hearing voices more and more lately and it’s driving her past the brink of sanity. Her boyfriend, Zak tries to help and comfort her, but nothing will make the voices stop. Then she meets a guy named Alden who seems to know her and exactly what’s going on in her life.

Turns out, Lenzi is a Speaker and Alden her Protector. She has the ability to listen to the dead and help them with their unfinished business and move on to their afterlife. It’s Alden’s job to basically help protect her in this instance and to help aid the spirit too, plus he gets to do all the fun paperwork as well. Alden tries to help her along in the best way that he can and explain some of her past lives as Rose, but something different happened this time around with her rebirth, she has no memory of her previous selves like she has before.

Add in the fact that there’s a Malevolent—basically the ghost of a very bad person—stalking her as well, and Lenzi has quite the problems on her hands. She is going to have to learn to master the rules of being a Speaker and hopefully gain her memory back all in a short time or else there will be consequences by the “company” that runs things.

This was a very interesting read, yet I felt like somethings were a little underdeveloped. The world-building needed a bit of work in my opinion. While the world itself is one we already know, it’s more about the goings on of the Speaker and Protector part of the job that felt a little fuzzy to me. We get the general concepts to it and who are few other Speaker and Protectors are, but I felt like that there was more to this “business” than we knew. Nothing shady, but legit, just more. I felt like we only barely scratched the surface of what Lenzi’s destiny was and before you knew it, the book was over.

Perhaps the timing of the book’s publication also had something to do with it. It was published in 2011 and though that wasn’t that long ago, I feel like maybe that’s a part of it? I can’t be sure. I was just hoping for more when it came to this book. While the plot was exciting and the pacing just right, there just seemed to be something missing from this one.

We have a nice budding romance between Lenzi and Alden and of coruse there seems to be something deeper to it than just a budding romance. They have a history together, one that Lenzi isn’t fully aware of. But perhaps it was the lack of detail into Lenzi and Alden’s past that made it hard to fully get behind their current relationship. We do get a few flashbacks memory style when it came to revealing who they used to but at times I still felt like there was something missing.

I also felt like only half the conflict was resolved in this one. True, there’s another installment in the story but it looks like that one will focus on different characters. While these characters will make an appearance in the final book and there’s just the tiniest bit of possibility that remaining issues will get resolved as well, I feel hesitant to say with certainty that it will happen. True, their remaining problems aren’t major and we can easily imagine an outcome, I don’t like the not-knowing part of things.

Shattered Souls was still an intriguing read if not as fully fleshed as I would’ve hoped for. Anything having to deal with ghosts tends to garner my attention. I found that I enjoyed it, but wouldn’t have said no to more in general, more world-building, more conflict, more resolution, more inner details to the work the characters do, and sure, a few more kisses wouldn’t have hurt either. Definitely looking forward to picking up the next book though!


Overall Rating 3.5/5 stars

 

Waiting on Wednesday

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly blog post by Jill over at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights releases we're eagerly awaiting.

 

 

Ruby's world has changed more than she ever could have imagined. She's in love with a powerful Frost King. She's the heir to the Fire Throne. And she may be a Nightblood--the spawn of a vengeful deity hellbent on releasing his wraithlike Minax from their prison. Once freed, these beasts will roam the earth, devouring every last person until he or she is nothing but an empty husk. But Ruby is able to control the Minax to a degree, and now she, her beloved Arcus, and her friend Kai must find a way to bring Frostbloods and Firebloods--sworn enemies--together to make a stand against a foe more deadly than any they've faced.

In this heart-pounding finale of Elly Blake's gorgeously written and action-packed Frostblood Saga, the fate of Frostbloods, Firebloods, and all of humanity is at stake.

 

 

 

 

DYING to read this one already!!! At least we're nearly there!!

 

 

 

TITLE: Nightblood

AUTHOR: Elly Blake

PUBLISHER: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
GENRE: YA FANTASY

RELEASE DATE: August 21, 2018  

 

 

 

 

 

Win a Pre-Order of Echoes by Alice Reeds!

Hey all! I can't remember if I had a twitter conversation with myself over this one or not...yeah, my mind has gotten so twisted I can't remember if I had a particular conversation with myself or not! LOL!

Anyway, on Friday you will be seeing my review for Alice Reeds' Echoes as well as a discussion post where I rave about it! It was truly a read that had my mind whirling and thinking! It kept me fully engaged and hooked into the story while I tried to figure out the mystery and eerieness surrounding the situation that Miles and Fiona found themselves in.

Before I get ahead of myself any further, I bring you to my contest! It's going to be a short one because I want to get the book pre-ordered for you with a possible release day delivery day (for US readers), if you're the winner and are international, I'll preorder with the Book Depository and the delivery time will be in their hands!

And because this book was SOOOO awesome and ends in a way that leaves me DYING for a sequel I decided I will do what I can to keep the numbers up! Yes, I know it's still rather early and a sequel may already be in the works, but because there's nothing confirmed, I find myself in a tailspin of worry! Hence the contest!

ONE lucky reader will win a pre-order of Echoes by Alice Reeds! This contest will be open to wherever the Book Depository will ship! So...have at it!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Teaser & Top Ten Tuesdays

Here are the rules:

1. Grab your current read
2. Open to a page
3. Pick out 2 lines that are SPOILER FREE
4. Name the title, author, etc.

"And read--read everything. Fairy tales. Stories. Only humans could write such pain and love, could make her swoon one minute and cry the next over something that had never really happened to people who'd never really existed." p 108*

*Quote comes from the ARC, therefore it and its page number are not final.











TITLE: Grim Lovelies
AUTHOR: Megan Shepherd
PUBLISHER: HMH Teen
GENRE: YA Fantasy/Paranormal
RELEASE DATE: October 2, 2018

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.

This week's topic is: Books with Sensory Reading Memories

*in no particular order

10. OLD MAGIC by Marianne Curley--I think I was in high school when I found this one and what I'll always remember was feeling so related to the heroine! She wasn't the popular sort and had very few friends, which was sadly something I related to back then.

9. DEMON IN MY VIEW by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes--I was in seventh grade and I do believe while reading it for the first time I was in Social Studies and it was my Sustained Silent Reading pick for the time and I just remember loving it and hated when my 15 minutes were up!

8. POISON STUDY by Maria V. Snyder--I was a freshman in college when I picked this one up! I remember reading a good portion of it on a weekend road trip and cursing myself for not bringing a reading light as well, because by the time sunset rolled around I was forced to stop!

7. SNOW by Tracy Lynn--one of my first fairy tale retellings that I read, and based on the pub date I think it was in high school when I discovered this one! I can't remember much about other sensory memories just thinking it was the most unique Snow White retelling ever! Lol.

6. STRAY by Rachel Vincent--This was a Borders find! During my hunt for the next read and I remember standing there in the romance section debating heavily over this one and trying to gamble on how much romance was in it. By seeing the quotes from authors I already loved on the book, the decision was made easily!

5. HAUNTED: A TALE OF THE MEDIATOR by Meg Cabot--another high school read because I legit remember getting SUPER excited in the aisle at Borders. It was also my introduction to pen names! I don't think they really occurred to me back then and I thought how this book seriously reminded me of another Mediator series by Jenny Carroll! Lol! It wasn't long after reading the description that I realized Meg and Jenny were one and the same!

4. THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UNDEAD by Kim Harrison--I remember I found this book at Target during my transition to wanting to read adult paranormal books because the YA was lacking. But what I remember most was starting this book and feeling like I was missing something...then a closer look at the cover made me realize I just started book 2 of a series! My first whoops of the series world! Lol.

3. TITHE by Holly Black--I was in middle school at the time of reading this one and what I remember about this one was being totally shocked by seeing the F-word! Lol. It was the first time (that I recall) ever seeing it in a book, let alone a YA book. I just didn't think that was done at the time! Lol. How naive I was!

2. HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER'S STONE by J.K. Rowling--I remember when I finally read this one on my own--as I first got interested in it when our teacher was reading it to us--I was in middle school and was laying in my bunk bed (because yup I had bunk beds for a time!) and just was reading constantly and suddenly I look up and it was past my bedtime! Lol! Since school started out 7:30 in the morning and I got an early ride from my mom, I had to be up pretty early back then!

1. ONYX by Jennifer L. Armentrout--change of pace here. Every time I look at this series, I crave chocolate chip cookies! Lol!!

 

Let's Discuss: Love Letters

I wanted to get some discussion posts written while I felt like I had the time and needed an idea. So I turned to the helpful little lists and saw one that I just got a kick out of! I don't remember seeing it before or perhaps I overlooked it. Either way, today is the day!

Love Letter to Paranormal Books

My Dearest Paranormal,

I remember when I first saw you. It was at the book fair, I had read your older sister's book and though I can't remember much about our encounter, I know when I read you that I was in love! You were my first love! You were the one who made me shun all other love stories. I couldn't get into the modest contemporary stories that were doused all over the shelves in the Young Adult section. I wanted you and only you.

Though you were pretty hard to find. You hid from me many times, it came to the point where I had to look for you elsewhere...on the other side of the store. And there you were! You were everywhere and we grew so much closer over the years.

While I may read a few other genres now, you have to understand that they are still apart of you! Just in different ways, such as magical realms with creatures other than human, or monstrous creatures that wear a human face. My love for you will always be the strongest. No one will ever come between us.

Thank you for always being there for me. I love you always!

 

ARC Review--The Cheerleaders by Kara Thomas

There are no more cheerleaders in the town of Sunnybrook.

First there was the car accident—two girls gone after hitting a tree on a rainy night. Not long after, the murders happened. Those two girls were killed by the man next door. The police shot him, so no one will ever know why he did it. Monica’s sister was the last cheerleader to die. After her suicide, Sunnybrook High disbanded the cheer squad. No one wanted to be reminded of the girls they lost.

That was five years ago. Now the faculty and students at Sunnybrook High want to remember the lost cheerleaders. But for Monica, it’s not that easy. She just wants to forget. Only, Monica’s world is starting to unravel. There are the letters in her stepdad’s desk, an unearthed, years-old cell phone, a strange new friend at school. . . . Whatever happened five years ago isn’t over. Some people in town know more than they’re saying. And somehow Monica is at the center of it all.

There are no more cheerleaders in Sunnybrook, but that doesn’t mean anyone else is safe. 

I received this ARC from an independent bookstore during the festivities of Independent Bookstore Day. My review is completely honest and voluntary; I was in no way compensated for this review.


After reading Kara Thomas’ two thrillers last year, I knew that this year’s thriller, The Cheerleaders would be just as terrifying and suspenseful as her previous ones. It definitely fit the bill for eerie thriller, though I wasn’t as creeped out as I had hoped to be.

Life the past five years for Monica has been hard, ever since her sister died, and her four friends died as well, things have just been rough. Two separate incidents killed four of her sister, Jen’s friends and when everything became too much for her, Jen took her own life. Now as the five year anniversary starts to roll around, Monica begins to question things. Starting with wondering why her stepfather still has Jen’s old cell phone.

Soon Monica and a girl from her class, Ginny, begin to look into the events that surrounded Jen’s friends’ deaths and even Jen’s herself. Tracking people down who knew Jen and the cheerleaders five years ago isn’t exactly easy, especially trying to see if they can remember something. All the while we watch as Monica deals with her own life struggles. She had an event happen to her over the summer that has pretty much left her shaken and has changed her whole attitude on life. She’s not quite the same person she once was, though since we didn’t know her then, we can only take that at face value.

Everyone always assumed that the accident involving two of the cheerleaders was just that, and that the murder of the other two cheerleaders was solved as they caught the man they suspected of being the murderer before he died. Case closed. Monica’s stepfather was one of the police officers who worked the case latter case. But something never sat right with Monica, hence all her digging and investigating.

This book kind of surprised me in some ways. The majority of Monica’s investigating was trying to figure out what really happened to the cheerleaders who were murdered and what Jen’s connection to it all was, that maybe she was murdered too for knowing something. She strives to find answers, but doesn’t expect a part of her past to catch up with her.

I feel like the pacing might have been a little different this time around than in Kara’s previous thrillers. It wasn’t overly slow with Monica’s investigating, but I felt like there was a definite change in pace to what I had initially anticipated. It was enough to keep me turning the pages though as Monica continued to get closer before hitting yet another brick wall. There was definitely a lot of tension to the story, especially as Monica struggles to keep her life from falling apart.

I felt like I wasn’t really able to devise my own speculations with this one. There was simply so much going on and I was trying to find that connection to all of it. When it’s finally revealed by the end, I knew there was no way of me having seen any of that! Lol! I enjoy being taken by surprise like that!

I really enjoyed Monica’s character in this one! Her struggles that she was dealing with felt very real. Granted some of her choices were so far beyond what I would’ve done, I still felt like the majority of her actions were very relatable and realistic. She’s definitely a heroine I could get behind and root for. What also made the story interesting was that every now and then, we would get a chapter’s worth of details from Jen five years ago before and during all the events that took place. These segments were well-timed and placed and became relevant to the part of Monica’s investigation and kind of let us know whether she was on the right trail or not.

The ending, as I said, was surprising! There was a lot more to it all than I had expected. Knowing the full scale of whodunit and all the whys wasn’t something I would ever get close to realizing. Maybe I got to part of the conclusion of the story, but definitely not the latter half! It never bothers me when that happens because I get so wrapped up in the mystery, I just sometimes forget to try and solve it!

The Cheerleaders was a most interesting thriller with quite the twisted string of mysteries! There’s more than one that will need to be solved and just when you think you might see a connection between them, be prepared to be turned in another direction! The Cheerleaders was rather twisted but in the most enjoyable of ways! Definitely a read to keep you guessing long before it’s over!

 
Overall Rating 4/5 stars


The Cheerleaders releases July 31, 2018 

It's Monday! What are You Reading?

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey. It's a fun meme where we gather to share what we've read last week and our reading plans for this week.

Last Week I Read:

The Dead List by Jennifer L. Armentrout (5 stars)

Echoes by Alice Reeds (ARC)--Review to come later this week!

Currently Reading:

Grim Lovelies by Megan Shepherd (ARC)

What I Plan to Read this Week:

Shattered Souls by Mary Lindsey

Other Posts of Interest:

Let's Discuss: My Bookcases 

Teaser & Top Ten Tuesdays 

Waiting on Wednesday 

Let's Discuss: The Movies 

Random Thursday 

Book Blogger Hop

Let's Discuss: Unexpected Surprises

Stacking the Shelves